Delirium
by selahanne
Summary: While being attacked, Hermione unknowingly uncovers many ancient secrets that will help her along the way to help transform the future. She is not who she thinks she is. AU.
1. Chapter One

The rolling hills of the grounds; while typically green and lush, were burning. The magnificent castle was in ruins, and was continually getting worse the longer the battle went on. Still bodies were strewn across the grounds, the halls, the courtyard, the lake. Sobbing men and women alike draped over their fallen comrades and family, but they couldn't mourn over them for long. Duels between black clothed, masked men and people of all ages lit the territory alight with different colors; if you tried hard enough, you could see it as beautiful, like fireworks. But there was nothing beautiful about tonight. It would be the longest night for every single soul there. No one was safe. No one could hide. No one could rest. It was fight or die. It was the night the war was going to end. Everyone can feel it in the air. The tension. The stress and the strain was almost palpable, you could almost taste it. But who knows which side would win?

* * *

Hermione couldn't breathe.

Faster. She had to run faster.

Her lungs screamed at her to slow down. Her breathing ragged.

She seemed to always be running, fleeing from one enemy to the next.

She was the target of 2 predators so she had to ignore the throbbing and painful stitch in her side.

All she could hear were explosions around her, and her own blood rushing through her ears, sounding like waves crashing on jagged rock. Her legs burned with exertion as she bolts down the seventh floor corridor.

'I have to find Harry' her mind cried out. She throws a jinx behind her blindly, one of the men who were closing in collapses and the other trips over his fallen comrade, and he lets out a snarl as his body slams into the stone, but it didn't deter either of them for long.

She ran down one of the corridors as fast as she could, away from the Death Eaters who were chasing her like a pack of rabid dogs chases a rabbit. Flashes of blue, red, and purple spells fly in what seems to be a million directions, flung by members of both the light and the dark.

She takes down the corridor with the tapestry of the Dancing Trolls and the Room of Requirement. She sees Fred, George, and Percy Weasley, who were all fellow Gryffindors; and older brothers to one of her best friends, Ron. The three Weasley's fought back-to-back, formed into a tight triangle, against a group of masked Death Eaters, and Hermione rushes past them. At the other end of the hall Neville Longbottom; Hermione's oldest friend was in a furious duel with Thorfinn Rowle, a massive blonde with hulking shoulders. "Incarcerous!" She yells, ropes shoot out of her wand and slam into the dark agent and she darts past them.

She runs. Runs faster than she ever has in her life. She has to get to Harry. 'Harry' The one she is fighting for. He was the only family she had left. The one she knew was going to sacrifice himself to the Dark Lord to stop the onslaught of their beloved castle and friends.

Suddenly she heard rather than saw, a spell buzzing towards her. She tries to dodge just a little too late and felt her side rip open when a red flash gets too close. Blood immediately starts pouring out of the sizzling flesh wound. 'Find Harry' she thought through the agony. Her vision was getting blurry. 'I have to find Harry' She starts off at a run again trying to get past the twisted laughing man, although she notices she cannot move as fast as she was without causing her side to burn with more fire-filled pain than she's ever felt.

'Find Harry. Find Harry. Find Harry' her mind cried out. She glances back and sees her attackers were gaining on her. She shouts an "IMPEDIMENTA". It misses the closer of the two, but smacks into the thinner Death Eater right in the chest. She takes a sharp left down into a corridor that must have been previously hidden, but now was unveiled due to a large hole in the wall that must have been caused by one of the explosions that she can hear all around her. It was quieter in this corridor, almost too quiet, her feet make an echoing 'pound pound pound' on the stone floor.

She presses her left hand to the bloody gash above her left hip, which was almost as large as her hand. It was bigger than she thought. She runs through the burn in her side, and the burning in her lungs due to running so hard and for so long. Every single footstep hurt worse and worse. 'Harry' She skids to a stop. The hall comes to a dead-end. The only thing that is on the barren wall is a crude Hogwarts Crest carved deeply into the stone, that looked to be centuries old if you looked at the style of the crest. But Hermione could not think about that now, so she catalogs it into her almost photographic memory.

She turns around terrified, with her wand raised and a spell on her lips, just in time to see her pursuers get hit with a loud shout of "Bombarda!" She ducked and covered her head and face with her arms to protect herself from the rubble that exploded into the corridor when the masked man slammed into the wall with a sickening crunching and the sound of breaking bones.

She swallows the tears of relief. She gulps the air and chokes a little when smoke fills her lungs. Her vision was going in and out from the blood loss. All she could hear was the explosions. She feels herself growing more and more unsteady. She reaches out with both hands and supports herself against the carving in the wall. She cannot help but notice how the blood dripping from the hand that was pressed against her side, was dripping into the deep grooves of the crest. Such a deep, dark, morbid shade of red. 'Oh Harry, I'm so sorry' was her final thought before she blacks out and drifts into a world of nothingness.

* * *

Neville was in a furious duel with the Death Eater Rowle, on the 7th floor corridor. Verbal and nonverbal spells blast from both wands. Murder is in the eyes of the larger blond Death Eater, and Neville knew it. It's a fight to the death; and just when he thought he might lose, ropes erupt and tangle themselves all around the colossal prat.

He takes advantage of the fact the mans arms were now wrapped tightly under the ropes, and he stuns him, and the man topples over directly onto his face with a loud crack. Fred grins from across the hall and shouts, "Bet that was his nose!", as Neville sees two Death Eaters pursuing Hermione; and gaining on her, and in a split second he dashes down the hall and follows her attacker.

His strong legs carry him down the hall faster than he thought possible. He follows a trail of burgundy red, 'That's too much blood.' he then sees Hermione throw a jinx at one of the men and Neville has to jump over him to avoid running right into him. He sees Hermione run down a passage in a gaping hole in the wall and he speedily follows.

He glanced in the direction she was headed and he knew she was running towards a dead-end. She turns around and all he can see is terror in her eyes that lacked the light that usually fills her whiskey colored eyes. She looks ghostly pale, her chest heaving trying to get enough oxygen in the smoky hallway.

The two men in black raises their wands and Neville thinks fast and shouts "Bombarda!" The Death Eaters never even saw him, and by the sound of the crunching that their bodies made when they collided with the wall, Neville was sure they would never see or maybe even breath again.

He watches as she stumbles backwards and turns her back towards him, not having seen him, placing her palms on the wall in front of her. She was incredibly unsteady and he vaulted over the body as he heard Hermione sob "I'm so sorry Harry." as she collapsed. He hurried over and caught her head as it almost smacks against the unforgiving stone. "Everything is going to be alright. Please let everything be okay," he prayed. He lifts up her scorched shirt to her ribs and has to look away immediately, swallowing the bile that quickly fills his throat; her skin was burnt away and blackened. Shakily, he pulls a small bottle of dittany out of his muggle jean pocket and counts the drops as they fall out; 'One. Two. Three.' It was the last of the potion he had, he hoped it would be enough.

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices something in the hall changes, and he glances up and stares in amazement. The carving of the Hogwarts crest was glowing a deep purple light that cast an eerie glow across the hall they were in. Shaking his head, feeling slightly dazed, he reaches out to touch the middle of the crest and suddenly, with his hand a wands tip width away from touching it, there's an explosion and he has just enough time to throw a shield charm up over them and throw himself over Hermione and he knew no more.


	2. Chapter Two

It was over. It was finally over. The reign of terror, the fear of not knowing whether you were going to live through the day or not, was over. Harry Potter silenced the Dark Lord, Tom Riddle for the final time. With the help of Ron Weasley, destroying the last Horcrux, Voldemort's incredibly large snake Nagini, swiftly removing her head with a fast and strong slice of the ruby encrusted sword of Gryffindor, and also with the help of Draco Malfoy, who only a few knew, had turned to the Order the summer before, who turned his wand against his father, a hushed spell escaping his lips, the older Malfoy's body falling to the ground with a thud, Riddle not believing Draco was alive as Lucius told him otherwise, but in all of the confusion, Voldemort was momentarily distracted, allowing Harry to wordlessly send a bright light of green straight into the Evil One's body.

Everyone watched with disbelief as Voldemort's lifeless body seemingly fell in slow motion to the stone ground, the mortal man who feared death more than anything. You could feel the tension as thick as a wet, hot fog break and the suffocating feeling everyone had been living with for years, was gone and the crowd collectively drew in a breath of cool air that they could feel rushing through their lungs, and invigorate their tired bones. Someone in the crowd let out a victorious scream of "He's GONE!", and everyone followed with screams and shouts of joy until it felt like the ground was shaking.

Just a few hours later, there were parties everywhere, celebrations for making it through the hell a half-blood with a power fetish put them through. But there was also and incredible amount of mourning. While there were parties that lasted all night and all day, there were as many families crying in the dark of their bedrooms, mothers holding their remaining children much tighter than usual, fathers drinking themselves into stupors for not being able to keep their families safe, children who had no parents to kiss their tears away and hug away the fear, people not being able to move because when they found their love still and cold, their world ceased to exist. Yes, Voldemort was gone, but so was so many innocent lives, the cost almost too much to bear.

The one question that was being constantly asked in a hushed whisper, "Where has our Savior gone?" Harry Potter had not been seen since morning. The last anyone saw of him was when Fred Weasley ran out of the castle with tears streaming down his face and put his head close to Harry's and then they both were off running back into the castle.

* * *

It has been 3 days since Riddle was defeated, but it felt so much longer. Harry was sitting in a room at St. Mungo's. He had been there in the same chair since Hermione's seemingly lifeless and bloody body was transported here. He hadn't left, hadn't showered, hadn't slept. The one person that was the closest thing to family was laying as still as she was when she was brought in on the bed in front of him. His under-used crackly voice filled the room when he said, "It's time to wake up Hermione, he's gone and you're safe now. I need you to come back." and sobbed as he looked down at her deathly pale hand clasped in both of his, and set his forehead on the edge of the bed.

The healers said they didn't know whether or not Hermione would be able to hear anything that was said or not. They hadn't seen a curse like the one that she had been hit with, but they were searching high and low for something remotely similar. The spell wasn't just burning away her skin, upon further inspection, spells upon spells upon spells, they found it was burning away her magic. It was attacking her magical core, what made her into the greatest witch of her age was severely damaged. After working on her tirelessly with stopping, they got the burning and the seemingly unstoppable force damaging everything that Hermione was, under control.

Hermione's entire torso was covered in bandages, the burning curse worked it's way up to underneath her ribs, across the span of her stomach, and around her back. Her skin was translucent, you could make out veins across her face, neck, and arms.

Harry had barged into the room as soon as he got to the hospital and he immediately vomited when he watched her skin bubble, roil, blacken, and bleed. The more the healers did to try and stop it, the faster it seemed to burn. Harry screamed at them to "Fix her!", and almost came unglued when a large security officer tried to escort him from the room. When he looked into the eyes of the much-larger-than-him man, the officer could see that removing him wasn't an option, so he held Harry back against the wall, out of the way of the many healers running back and forth, in and out of the room. Officer Hudson (Harry read on his name badge on the front of his dark blue uniform) called to the closest healer carrying a tray of potions into the room and asked for a calming draught, which Harry took without hesitation.

But that was 3 days ago, and Hermione hadn't so much as fluttered an eyelid. Harry felt like his world had been turned upside down. He couldn't imagine life without his best friend, his sister. He couldn't stop reliving the past traumatic few days over and over in his mind. His forehead was still resting on the side of the bed, the sheet soaked underneath his eyes, which was almost amusing to him because he didn't even realize he was crying again, but maybe it was just that he hadn't stopped. He raised his head and took in a shaky breath, trying to calm the panic trying to rise up in his throat every time he looked at Hermione's sickly pallor.

"Harry, mate." a worried voice said next to Harry's ear, startling him and making him jump up, the wooden chair he was sitting on clattering to the floor in the quiet room, in a second, his wand was raised and jabbed into Ron's throat. Ron's eyes widened and his eyebrows disappeared underneath the greasy fringe of his bangs, looked at his best friend of 7 years. He took in the wild green eyes that were puffy and red, an unshaved face, and cheekbones that were sunk in. Harry let out a breath of relief and lowered his wand seeing that it was just Ron. Both of their eyes went to Hermione's face, expecting the loud noise to have waken her up from her slumber, but it did not. Harry's face crumpled as he felt the lump in his throat rise up again. Ron puts an arm around his shoulder and pats Harry's back a few times. Ron had never seen him this distraught before, and it was worrying him.

"How's she doing?" he asked the now silently crying raven haired boy.

Harry just shook his head, "No different. They say it could be days, or weeks before she wakes up - but she might not wake up at all." he hiccuped, righted his chair, and sat with his elbows on his knees, and jammed his palms into his eyes. He was exhausted.

"Don't you think you should go home then Harry?" Ron asked hesitantly, sitting in the chair on the opposite side of Hermione's bed. Harry's head rose slowly and his bloodshot eyes looked at Ron incredulously, "Not for good! I mean, you haven't eaten, slept, or showered in days. You know Hermione would be kicking your arse if she knew you were sulking like this, and not taking care of yourself." He smiled slightly, "She would say," he raised his voice to a high pitched whine, "'Harry James Potter! Get off your backside now, go take a shower because you smell like a hippogriffs behind, and eat a feast to get your strength up! Oh and read a chapter of Hogwarts: a history and I'm sure it'll put you right to sleep!' Well, okay she probably wouldn't say that part, but it's true, at least for me anyway." Ron said with a lopsided grin, and was relieved to see a small smile on Harry's face. Harry's eyes locked onto the floor and it looked like he was having an internal debate. A light knock on the door made them both jump and turn towards the door.

Mrs. Weasley with her fiery red hair that was graying around her temples, poked her head in, "Yes, Harry dear, Ron is right and Hermione would be very upset to find you weren't taking care of yourself." she walked into the room and pulled Harry into a tight hug. "Now come on, come back to the Burrow with me, I'll make you lunch while you take a shower, and then you will take a nap before you can return here. Ron will stay here with Hermione and will contact us immediately if anything changes, won't you, son?" She turned her wise eyes to Ron and he nods his head in agreement.

Harry looks hard at Hermione's face and realizes that Ron and Mrs. Weasley were right. The lack of sleep, not eating a proper meal in months and months were catching up to him. He stands up and presses his cheek against Hermione's and whispers into her ear, "I love you 'Mione, and I'll be back soon, I promise. Cross my heart." he guided one of her index fingers across his heart in the shape of an X, just like they've always done since first year, a little muggle tradition that was purely Harry and Hermione's. He slowly walked backwards, watching her for as long as he could, while taking small steps. held onto his hand and led him down the hall. Ron let out a sigh of relief and turned his cerulean eyes on Hermione, before lowering his head backwards until it was against the wall behind him. He counted the feeble breaths he could hear Hermione take. _One, two, three, four, five..._

Ron must have dozed off and jumped when he heard a slight knock at the door, "Hey Ron." Neville entered the room and walked over to Hermione and placed a small kiss to her forehead and then sat in the chair Harry had just vacated. "Did you finally get Harry to go shower? I didn't have the heart to tell him he smelled so bad." he shook his head a little bit as he pulled a book out of the canvas bag he had placed on the floor before he got situated in "Harry's chair".

"Yeah, took both me and mum to convince him. He is more upset than I've ever seen him." Ron sighed, rubbing his index finger and thumb against his eyes. He looked over and noticed Neville's hand was on top of Hermione's still one, while his thumb ran soft circles around her knuckles.

"Can you blame him? Hermione is all w-he has left." He stuttered quickly, looking at the girl in question with devastation in his eyes, "They really should be considered siblings with how close they've always been. Neither one has abandoned or left the other, for the past 7 years." A slight note of bitterness swept through the last sentence, and Ron felt his throat hitch. _How does he know I left them in the tent? Did Harry say something to him?_ Then Ron shook his head and convinced himself that there was no way he could've known. Harry has been distracted, and well, Hermione wasn't in any state to talk.

"How are you and your family holding up?" Neville asks with a shaky voice.

"We miss them, so much it hurts, but we will be okay. Probably not for a while but we will be eventually." Ron closes his eyes and wills the tears away, seeing his brothers eyes face staring blankly towards the sky. Charlie. Percy. He couldn't believe they were gone. "They think Georgie's brain was severely damaged. He won't speak, and just lashes out violently if anyone even get's close to him. It's the hardest on Fred." Ron couldn't take the despair that was welling up in his heart and suddenly he felt like he was locked in a cage, and he just had to get out. The tears were falling down his freckled cheeks, fast and hot. "I'm going for a walk." he choked out before barreling out of the room.

Neville closed his eyes and knew the pain they were feeling. That sounded almost exactly like how his father was now, after Bellatrix tortured them into insanity. His shaking voice filled the quiet room, "Hermione, I promised I would read to you, so here it goes. I know Pride and Prejudice is your favorite, so I thought I'd start there. Pride and Prejudice, Chapter One. It's a truth universally acknowledged..."

* * *

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT! I cannot believe how wonderful you guys are with the reviews and follows and messages I've gotten the past few days. I'm absolutely blown away. I hope you guys liked this chapter! I love it myself but I HATE IT ABOUT CHARLIE AND PERCY AND GEORGE! I teared up writing it. Ugh. BUT on with the show. Please review, they completely make my entire day!

Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderfulness of Harry Potter.


	3. Chapter Three

6 Days since Voldemort was defeated - 6 Days Hermione has been unconscious

* * *

That morning found Hermione being moved into a more permanent room on a private floor; which housed an unchanged George a few doors down. Neville, Ron, and Harry sat around her new bed, with the light purple blanket that had knitted her the summer of their fifth year pulled up to her chest, her pale arms laying on top. This new room had dark mahogany floors that matched the mahogany nightstand, which upon seeing Neville, immediately left for half an hour and came back with a glass of Moonbeam Lilies, which sparkled and shone white when, for its namesake; it was basked in moonlight, which would in from a large bay window overlooking muggle London. Hermione would love the view, especially right then as the sun was setting on another day. The sky was all shades of blues, purples, and pinks, and they wished she could see it, but she was as still as stone, and there were absolutely no changes; her skin still blackened and the healers had to constantly give her blood replenishing potions because whatever curse this was, it wouldn't allow the girls body to heal. The healers had to come in every hour to change her bandages, and they had no idea how long she would be able to survive losing blood continuously.

Sitting in his chair at the right side of Hermione, Harry sat stoic, his face hard and angry. He had stopped crying and nothing anyone would do could get him to speak more than a word here or there; not that they really tried, they knew this was breaking Harry in two, or perhaps it was shattering him into more pieces than anyone could count. He turned himself completely off from everyone else, and only stared at Hermione, holding her cold hand in his.

Neville was holding Hermione's other hand, opposite of Harry. He was reading again, Emma this time, as he finished his almost nonstop reading of Pride and Prejudice that morning. Reading to her was a good distraction for him, because he didn't like where his thoughts went when he wasn't occupied. Seeing the state Hermione was in made his heart pang painfully in his chest, and only the hope of seeing her smile at him was the only thing that kept it from breaking.

Ron, who was pacing at the front of the room, coughed and offered to take a turn reading out loud when he noticed silent tears run down Neville's face. "Thank you." Neville muttered, passed the book to the red head, and he leaned forward, half listening, and started running the tip of his finger across her fingers, and held her hand in his left one, and ran his right thumb across her wrist and worked his hand up her arm, lightly rubbing and trying to feed his warmth to her as she still felt cold to the touch; and that's when he felt the unevenness of skin on the inside of her forearm. He turned her arm gently over and immediately bit his tongue to hold in the shout that was trying to escape his throat. MUDBLOOD was crudely carved into her pale flesh. Red hot heat burst through his body, his vision tinted red.

"Who in Hades did this to her?" he almost screamed at Ron and Harry, his eyes wildly switching from panicked blue eyes, to tearful green. He stood up and started at Ron, and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him almost too forcefully. "What happened to her?" his deep voice demanded, his breath hot and wet against Ron's face.

Harry stood up quickly and gently tugged Neville off of Ron and Neville wrenched his arms away from his grasp. Angry tears started working their way down his face. "Bellatrix." Harry said with his eyes shut tight, hearing Hermione's screams echo around in his head, shame filling him for not being able to rescue her sooner.

"What did she do to her?" his strangled voice choked out.

"She used crucio." Neville paled instantly and fell to his knees. Not again. He cringed as his parents faces swam in the back of his mind.

"And her arm?" his eyesight was completely blurred and they locked onto the blur he knew was Harry, who looked like he was fidgeting from foot to foot.

Neville heard the hesitancy in Ron's voice behind him, "The blade she used was cursed and the scar can't be healed." Ron stood with his arms crossed against his chest, eyes staring at his trainers as Neville started to sob. Ron looked over to Harry and they shared a look of "What do we do?" that required no words. Harry made a motion of tipping a drink back - A Calming Draught, and Ron walked out of the room to look for a healer that could help.

Harry knelt down in front of Neville and put his arms around him, and the heartbroken boy fell into his embrace without hesitation. It sounded like he was mumbling nonsense, but Harry caught a few words, "Not again - couldn't help - I'm sorry." that went on until Ron came into the room with a shorter brunette healer, Healer Mathis following behind. Harry took the potion she was carrying and brought it to Neville's lips, but he pushed his hand away, some of the emerald potion sloshed to the floor, Harry gripped the back of Neville's head and lifted it, forcing him to look in his face. Harry had never seen as much devastation in anyone's eyes as he did in the broken man's eyes. A look of understanding passed across Harry's face and he murmured to him, "Take this, for her." and Neville obeyed immediately. The boy-who-lived helped the taller man to his feet and sat him in one of the chairs.

The fog and the anguish that was over Neville melted and he could think clearly again. He realized how his breakdown must have looked. He hadn't broken down, not when he saw her when he opened up Ariana's portrait, after not seeing her for months, not even when he was dropping the last bit of dittany he had onto her scorched skin, he hadn't broken down until then. "I guess I should explain some things." Harry and Ron looked quizzically at him. He took in a deep breath and started to explain.

* * *

It was the night of Bill and Fleur's wedding, white fairy lights flickered in the trees surrounding the Weasley family home, the Burrow, the sweet smell of honeysuckles wafted through the light breeze in the trees. Neville was leaning against a tree, one ankle crossed against the other, his right hand in his pocket, the other holding a champagne flute that he had grabbed on the way out. He was taking a breather, having just escaped from Muriel, Ron and Ginny's awful great aunt, who was going on and on about anything to whoever who would listen. He took a sip from the glass he held and watched Bill and Fleur dance through the flap in the tent that allowed him to see inside. Neville smiled to himself, it was a good night full of laughter.

The front door of the Burrow slamming caught his attention, and he peered over his shoulder to the front porch and felt his blood run cold when he saw the international quidditch star, Viktor Krum, violently grabbing Hermione around the waist, trying to bring her face close to his, as she was saying "No Viktor, please." She pushed him away and tried getting down the stairs but his large hand gripped on to her forearm and Neville could see her wince in pain. He quickly ran over to them, moved in between the two and roughly shoved Viktor away from Hermione. "I think it's best that you leave." Neville snarled. Viktor's face shrouded with a murderous glare that he fixed on Hermione behind Neville.

"This isn't over," he growled at her, the smell of firewhiskey hot on his breath, swiftly moving his eyes onto Neville, and the way he kept Hermione tucked behind him, protecting her. How it was possible, Neville didn't know, but his glare turned even more sour and before he could say another word, Viktor was shoving his way past them and they both watched him disapparating just past the boundary lines of the Weasley's property.

Neville turned towards Hermione and the anger and adrenaline left him in a whoosh when he saw how disheveled she was, and saw her nursing the forearm Krum had gripped, close to her body. Wordlessly, he lightly tugs her arm towards him and felt a pang of red hot anger when he saw a large scarlet hand print halfway between her elbow and wrist. He gently rubs his thumb over the inside of her arm and then reaches into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a gnarled knot of wood. He cracked the wood in half and Hermione was surprised to see liquid the color of amber inside. "Root of an Osalkender tree." he gave a little lopsided smile at Hermione's confused look, "I'll tell you about it later." Using his right thumb, he gathered a bit of the sap and gently rubs it onto the bruising red mark, Hermione watched - and felt - the redness die down and the pain numb. She looked at him with tear filled eyes and whispers, "Thank you." and falls into his arms and started to sob. Neville held her tight to him, her arms tight around his waist, and he ran his hand over her hair and whispered words of reassurance and safety.

She lifts her head off of his chest and looks up at him, "We are leaving tomorrow." she whispers so lightly, he wasn't sure if she had spoken or if it was the wind. Ice ran through his blood once again that night, and felt the goose flesh erupt all down his arms and chest. He takes a step back from her and asks her to repeat herself, _Please don't say it, please don't say it_ , he prayed in his thoughts.

"Harry, Ron, and I. We are leaving first thing tomorrow, before anyone wakes up. It's time for us to go Nev." Hermione's voice comes out breaking slightly on almost every other word.

Neville felt like his world had stopped, and brokenly asked, "Where are you going?" his heart was racing. It was coming, he knew, but he did not want to think it was happening in what seems like a blink of an eye.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "We aren't sure yet, I can't tell you even if we were. I need you safe." at this, she breaks down crying again and this time Neville couldn't help but cry silent tears of his own.

"But I need you safe, Hermione." he whispered into her ear, burrowing his face into her curls and breathing in the smell of her lilac perfume that she had been wearing since fourth year. Her breath shuddered and pressed her forehead against his cheek.

"Here." She pulls out a thin metal pendant that had a weeping willow carved into it on a leather necklace from the folds in the waist of her dress, taps it with her wand, and then taps a duplicate pendant that was on a bracelet on her left wrist, and they glowed brightly before going back to their original golden state.

"Are these like our D.A. galleons?" he asked as Hermione handed the one on the leather strap to him, and she nodded.

"These are the only ones connected, and I found a rune so no matter how far we are apart, we will be able to get in touch with the other. They get warm, just like the others. You have to point to the pendant with your wand and think the message you want to send, and I'll get it." She pointed her wand at her own pendant and Neville felt the heat of the message heavy against his palm. He looked down and read, I love you. "It's something that has to be done. I promise as soon as all of this is over, it'll be me and you." she smiled and kissed his temple.

Neville looked into her whiskey colored eyes and he could picture the future without hesitation; a future without Voldemort. A future where his Hermione can be safe and content. He would do anything to make her happy for the rest of her life. He could see every day full of her smiles, her haphazard piles of books littered all over their house, watch her curled up on the couch reading to a sleepy little wildly curly haired girl. That was a future he wanted with her more than anything. He felt a steely sense of determination bloom in his chest. He would do whatever was necessary to make that future come true. "Nev?" Hermione's voice broke into his thoughts, "Are you alright?"

His eyes flitted over her face, and by the fairy light, he noted her beautiful eyes, the galaxy of freckles stretched across her nose and cheeks, the slight upturned curl of her lips as she looked up at him, expectantly watching. "It'll all work out, and then we can start on that life that we've planned, yeah?" He watched as the small smile turned into a radiant grin. Hermione closed the space between them, wrapping her arms around his neck, both of his around her waist, pulling them as close as they could be, and were just about to wrap their lips around one anothers - the shape of a lynx hurtled past them, flying into the tent.

"The Ministry has fallen."

Neville didn't even get to say goodbye.

* * *

Harry and Ron stared at the man across from them, taking in the tear tracks running down his cheeks, leaving dark marks on his grey muggle tee shirt. Harry recovered first, "Krum did what?" Harry's nostrils flaring and he cursed under his breath, standing up and pacing from one end of the room to the other. He faltered slightly after a few quiet moments where all you could hear was his trainers smack against the wooden floor. "Wait, you and Hermione were-" he stops, closes his eyes tightly, takes a deep breath in and corrects himself, "are in love with each other?"

"Very much so." Neville confirmed forlornly, letting his eyes trail back to the love of his life, fighting for her life.

"How come we never knew this?" Ron finally exploded, his face a blotchy deep red, Neville whipping his head towards the angry red head. "She is our best mate and you're telling us that you guys have been in a relationship behind our backs?" the flaring of his nose reminded Neville of a bull's right before they charged.

"We weren't in a relationship exactly, we both wanted to wait for the right time - when Voldemort wasn't breathing down our necks. I've loved her since fourth year, and I don't think she even thought of me that way until fifth year when Fred and George spelled some mistletoe in the common room. I will do absolutely anything necessary to make her happy. I'm sorry we didn't tell you beforehand, but Hermione was adamant that everyone needed to focus on taking down Voldemort." Neville all got out in a nervous rush, looking back and forth from Ron to Harry. Ron scoffed and stormed out of the room, leaving a trail of palpable anger in his wake.

"He's just upset that we weren't told in the first place." Harry said dully, his eyes squinted behind his glasses, looking at Neville with a look that made him feel like Harry was more looking through him, than at him, after a few moments he sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Look, if Hermione is in love with you, I'm thrilled because I know you're a great guy, but how could you guys keep such a big secret for so long?"

"Because you dunderheads were too blind to notice." A tired voice cuts in from the doorway. Neville's eyes widened to see the ragged-looking man standing there. Harry stood up and went to shake his hand - it was Draco Malfoy.

* * *

A/N: Okay guys, I absolutely love Viktor Krum irl, but it worked for this story! I hope everyone is continuing to enjoy this! Getting notifications of your follows, favorites, and reviews just absolutely make my day.

SOOOOOOO, this story is going to be a long one, and I hope you guys will buckle in for the ride!

Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderfulness of Harry Potter :(


	4. Chapter Four

Draco Malfoy strolled into the room and collapsed into the chair beside Neville's. Harry once again sat down in the chair that almost seemed to be attached to him. "Where've you been?" he questioned.

"Hiding, like the coward everyone thinks I am." Draco shrugged, the tension in the room breaking, Harry rolled his eyes and shared an amused look with Neville before Draco continued. "Been with Mum, I've gotten her around the clock care, but she still needs me by her side when she is awake. She's back to her normal sleep cycle so that's better for all of us. We've moved back in to the Manor once I was able to put my own wards up. The one's my dear old Father put up dissolved when he died." he said as though he wasn't the one that ended his fathers life, "We've had several attacks, but my wards seemed to have put a stop to that. When we first arrived, half of the place was burnt to the ground, but the house-elves and I have been working together to get it all fixed. Tonight is the first chance I've been able to get out of the house. How is she doing?" he cast his eyes towards the unconscious girl, who he would like to pretend was just sleeping.

Harry sighed and started explaining the basics, what the curse was doing and how there hadn't been any improvement. Draco closed his eyes tightly and rested his head on his hand that was propped up on the arm of the chair he was in. "And the Healers haven't found anything to help yet?" he questioned.

"No, but they've been reaching out to other hospitals and libraries around the world for anything they think could help." Neville answered, eyes flashing with a glimmer of hope, once again holding Hermione's hand and pressing his lips against her ice cold skin. He pulled her blanket a little further up acting like it would warm her up, even if he knew it wouldn't. Neville was still feeling the cooling, and yet warming affect of the calming draught running through his veins, clearing his thoughts.

The room went quiet, each of the men deep in their own thoughts. Draco's eyes suddenly widened, sat up straight and said, "I can start looking in the library at the Manor. Thank Merlin the tossers didn't burn that to the ground; there are books there that are older than Hogwarts itself. There are also many books on curses and dark magic; there's bound to be something we could try." And for the first time in days, Harry and Neville both looked hopeful that things could get better.

There was a knock on the door and Healer Mathis came in to the room, "It's time for dressing changes." Neville stepped out the room, he couldn't bear to see Hermione's skin so burnt and bloody. The young Healer was quick, and applied the necessary salves and creams to the injured skin before stepping quickly back into the hall, the door shutting for a few seconds before Neville walked back in, taking his seat at Hermione's side, grasping her hand like it was his lifeline.

The three of them sat and chatted quietly about everything that has transpired since Voldemort's fall; about the Death Eaters that were captured, the ones that were killed in the battle, the ones who were missing, how Shacklebolt stepped in as interim Minister, how quickly Draco had been excused from all charges because of his work with the Order, and it wasn't before the sun broke through the misty clouds that they realized how long they'd been talking.

Draco slouched back into his chair, ran a hand through his platinum blonde hair and rubbed his hand across his face before letting out a long sigh. "I guess I should get going, contact me right away if anything changes." He sent a forlorn look in Hermione's direction, standing up and taking a few steps towards the door, opening it and jumping backwards when he saw Ron Weasley with his hand poised to knock.

Ron's face showed shock but that quickly morphed into anger; his ears turned bright red and his cheeks turned a splotchy purple. The blood drained out of Draco's already pale face; holding his hands out and tentatively stepping several feet back. Ron stormed in the room and hitched his arm back, and a blink of an eye later, his fist colliding with Draco's cheek bone, his balance getting knocked off and falling back into Neville's. Ron steps forward, looking like he wanted to pummel him, but Harry stands in the way and shouts at him to calm down. Ron looks incredulously from Harry's stern face to Draco's. "What's a Death Eater doing in here? Come to finish the job?" Ron snarled, starting at Draco again.

Harry pushes Ron back, "You know he switched alliances last year, get your head out of your arse!"

"Oh sure he did. He just wanted to get us to trust him and feed information to his precious Dark Lord!"

"You know what they did to his mother! Do you really think that wouldn't change his allegiance?" Harry snapped, vein pulsing in his forehead.

"He didn't exactly explain what happened to anyone, it could have been him that did that to his mum for all we know!" And in the span it took Harry to inhale sharply and blink once, Ron was shoved against a wall with Draco's forearm pressed against his throat, making his purple face turn darker. Draco's eyes were full of malice, and there was so much pain that exuded his entire being. He drew his wand and pressed it against Ron's temple. Harry attempts to get in between them but Draco is furious. Ron tries to pull Draco's arm off of his throat, black spots swimming before him.

"You've done nothing but doubt me since I came to you guys. I understand I've been awful but people change Weasley, maybe all except you. Do you want to know what happened Weasley? Do you want to see what they did to my mother?" demanded Draco with so much anguish in his voice, Harry and Neville couldn't imagine what had happened that night so long ago.

* * *

Everyone was relaxing at the Burrow, after a day full of cleaning and preparing for the upcoming wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. Hermione and Ginny were in the kitchen, cleaning the pots and pans the muggle way, all the while laughing at Fred and George who were cracking jokes to try to get the girls laugh, but also whispering gossip to each other when the boys were too into themselves. Every now and then, one of the twins would _Moo_ loudly whenever they heard Ginny call Fleur a cow, which was almost every other sentence.

Harry, Ron, and were sitting in the living room. Ron and Harry in the middle of a chess game, while Arthur tinkered with a muggle typewriter that he spelled to write out everything you spoke. When Fred and George found this out, they charmed it to change every sentence into something inappropriate.

A faint popping noise could be heard if you were listening quietly. Arthur frantically stood up and drew his wand, recognizing someone had infiltrated their wards. He ran out the back door through the kitchen, leaving everyone in confusion and fear. Harry and Ron meet the girls and twins and they all stood in the doorway, fighting to get a chance to look out the small window.

"Bugger this!" Fred shouted and swung the door open. They spill out of the door and see Arthur and Aberforth Dumbledore standing in the middle of the field talking urgently. Aberforth had a disturbed countenance and Arthur's was quickly becoming the same.

"Boys! Get your cloaks on!" He exclaimed. It was the middle of July, so it was a bit of an odd request if you didn't know that Weasley's Wizard Wheeze's provided protection cloaks. The twins, Harry, and Ron immediately moved into action, and the girls started following right after. Arthur grabbed onto Ginny's wrist, stopping her motion. "No Ginny, Hermione. Stay here. We don't know what we are getting in to." Ginny stuck her chin out and didn't say a word, her steely gaze on her father that anyone could interpret to being, I am coming, without the words being said.

Hermione looked at Arthur and said, "Sir, I cannot stay here. I was trusted enough to come on Harry's rescue the other night, I need to come tonight too." Arthur looked at her for a moment and realized that she was right, she could handle herself. The four boys came back out of the house donning their cloaks, and carrying Arthur's, and also the two girls, knowing that they wouldn't take no for an answer. The rest of their group donned the garments and ran to the outside of the property line.

"Hog's Head everyone." Aberforth's voice snapped at them. Within a few seconds, they were all gone.

Hermione looked around the bar room, taking in the large head of a hog that was stuffed and animated to snort every time someone got too close. The bar was closed, but a sniffling and a sobbing cut through the air and caught all of their attention to the back of the room. A grief-stricken Draco Malfoy was silently crying over the body of a woman with matching platinum blonde hair which was knotted into a halo around her head, who was the one sobbing, body seizing with pain every few seconds.

Fred was the first to speak up, "What are they doing here?"

Aberforth answered with a voice full of understanding, "They reached their limit."

As the Weasley's, sans Arthur, started to shout their objections. Hermione recognized the jerky movements and immediately walked over, crouching over Narcissa. "Crucio?" her eyes met the broken boys and he nodded minutely. She automatically started waving her wand over the woman's shuddering and her movements started to lessen, but her cries did not. Hermione tapped her wand to the woman's temple and shut her eyes in heartache.

"What is it?" Draco sobbed.

"Her mind...It's broken." Hermione whispered. She looked at the boy kneeling just a few feet away and watched as his heart broke in two. He looked into her eyes and she knew, she _knew_ , that he was done. She reached her hand out and Draco gripped onto it like she was an anchor to the flood of agony ripping through his body.

"YOU GET AWAY FROM HER!" Ron bellowed and shoved his way past his father, who had been keeping him away to let Hermione work. Hermione stood up and not letting go of Draco's hand, raised her other hand to stop Ron from getting any closer to the boy who just lost the one thing that mattered most in his world. Ron looked at her with betrayal in his eyes. "You're choosing a DEATH EATER over us?" he was losing his temper, and with it, his ability to think logically.

"Ron, it's okay. He isn't going to do anything. He needs refuge. We can protect him." Hermione tried to tell him.

"PROTECT HIM? He killed Dumbledore! Did that happen to slip your mind?" Ron then lost his temper completely. He shoved Hermione out-of-the-way and drew his wand at Draco - and then his wand was being whipped out of his hand, his father catching it easily.

"That's enough Ronald." Arthur gripped Ron's upper arm and dragged him away from the boy who was lost to all of them. "Aberforth, I can trust that you'll lend a room for each of them?" at this, Aberforth nodded and sent a wordless spell at Narcissa, causing her to float above the ground and he directed her body up the stairs and out of sight.

Hermione knelt down to Draco, who had his arms wrapped around his knees, slightly rocking back and forth chanting, "It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault." She put her hand on his back and cringed when he panicked and pushed her away. He looked up at her and she felt her own heart break a little, to see his soul being bared and broken before her. "Come on, it's going to be okay. Let's get you to bed." gently and slowly, she was able to get him to stand and numbly follow her up the stairs. All the while, Harry, George, and Fred looked on with shocked expressions, and Ron with contempt.

* * *

Draco's arm loosened against Ron's neck for a moment, and Draco placed his wand to his own temple, his face screwed up in torture, and muttered a spell that no one quite caught, and then pressed his wand sharply back onto Ron's. Harry and Neville stood shock-still for several moments as they watched Ron's face, his eyes watching things they couldn't see, quickly wet with tears, contort into a plethora of different emotions; shock, hatred, and pain being the easiest to make out, watched his jaw clench, and finally after several minutes, it was over. Draco growled and stormed out of the room. Ron quickly turned his head and vomited on the floor. Neville winced and vanished the sick away with his wand.

Neville and Harry stare at Ron, as he was shaking his head back and forth, muttering things they couldn't quite make out, "Ron?" Neville asked quietly, both waiting for an explanation.

"I can't - it was too horrible." Ron whispered and then walked out of the room, shaking from head to toe, leaving in his wake a very troubled and bewildered Neville and Harry.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! I still can't thank you enough for reading this story.

It's been a long week and it's yet to be over but I wanted to get this next chapter out for you guys! Soooo I hope you enjoy!


	5. Chapter Five

17 Days Hermione has been unconscious

* * *

The room was bright with morning light, which was dancing on the flowers and leaves of the plants Neville was bringing in every few days; amassing to a wide variety of different types of flowers and foliage. He was also casting a stasis charm to keep them as beautiful as the day he brought them in. The flowers that he brought in the day before from the thankfully undamaged Hogwarts greenhouses, the colors glowed and changed slowly from a dark purple to a bright orange as the day progressed. The purple was at it's deepest at the darkest time of night, and the orange was the brightest when the sun was high in the sky. They were mesmerizing, and Neville had to swallow the hard lump in his throat when he thought that Hermione may never get to see them, or hear the story of how his grandfather had a field of them behind his house, and they would camp out at night in the middle between the Moonbeam Lilies and the Circadian Floramere's and stay up all night, laying on a large quilt that his grandmother made, just to see the flowers glow in the moonlight.

Neville was helping the renovation of the castle they had all called their home for the past 7 years. So many things had been destroyed; the Gryffindor towers along with most of the seventh floor, the Astronomy tower, many classrooms, the teachers living quarters, and there was a gaping hole that allowed anyone from outside be able to see the third, fourth, and fifth floors.

Harry, Draco, and Neville were running themselves ragged. They spent most of their time researching dark curses in the many books strewn around the floors, which several piles reached over 5 feet tall.

Neville was currently at Hogwarts, taking care of the thousands of different types of plants in the greenhouses, which was now lacking their caretaker; it was a loss that made Neville's stomach swoop every time he remembered about McGonagall's tears when she told him that his beloved botanical mentor's body was found in the courtyard. She then asked if he would fill Professor Sprout's place as Hogwart's Herbology teacher the following year; which he swiftly agreed to.

Ron was spending most of his time in George's room. He had started to speak, but it was like he had the mind of a 3 or 4 year old. He recognized his mother, father, and only Fred out of all of his remaining siblings, with everyone else, he would still lash out. The Weasley's were a torn apart family, but it just strengthened their already strong bond.

* * *

Harry sat in his chair, absentmindedly chewing on the tip of his ball-point pen; which upon learning about, Draco hastily confiscated the rest of the pack from the contents of Harry's backpack, which was scattered across the floor. Harry's eyes were so blood-shot they seemed like they were glowing. He was getting to the point where he was looking at the pages but not absorbing the words that his eyes flitted over. He felt his eyes drooping until the words "the initial part of the curse severs the victims magical core, rendering them paralyzed - " jumped out on the page before him. His heart started pounding, he could hear his blood rushing in his ears.

He kicked Draco, who was sitting on the floor leaning against the end of Hermione's bed, in the side and he spluttered awake. For a brief second Harry felt a twinge of guilt because none of them had been able to sleep lately.

Despite everything, Harry and Draco were entering a friendship that neither of them really understood; but they both knew the driving force behind it all was Hermione. She meant so much to each of them in vastly different ways, but they both wanted to see her recover more than anything else.

Draco scowled, "What in Hades do you want, Potter?" Rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I think I found it." Harry's voice came out in an awed whisper. Draco was on his feet instantly. "Look at this," standing and turning so they both could look at the old, weathered page that might hold Hermione's deliverance.

The illustration was of a woman who looked to be sleeping, and the two let their eyes fall on the brunette on the bed beside them, looking so much like the drawing in the book. They shared a look between them, and felt magic flowing through the air, making their hair stand on end. This was it, they could feel it deep in their bones.

After a beat of silence, they both turn back to the page and Draco's deep voice filled the quiet of the room.

"Mágikus Mag Elválasztása - The Separation of One's Magical Soul

The initial part of the curse severs the victims magical core, rendering them paralyzed and in given time, will consume their core once it has been completely severed from their soul. The second half of the ritual will remove the broken soul, and attaches it within the immortal's soul; making the victim a slave and completely dependent on the immortal."

Draco quickly flipped the book upside down, careful to keep his finger between the pages, keeping their place and read the title; "Magicae Inmortuorum." Draco whispers. "It means Magic of the Undead. Vampire magic, magic of Incubi, werewolves, and others. Immortal magic."

"Vampire and werewolf magic?" Harry's face dropped, a line appearing between his brows. "I didn't know they practiced magic. What is an incubi?"

"An incubus - male, or succubus - female, is like a vampiric demon. They seduce muggle men and women to couple with them. Only an Incubus and a witch can produce a Cambion. It's a rare pairing because within their respective magics, there's a natural loathing for each other. When a Cambion is born, it's a wizard or witch until they die, or until they perform their most sacred ritual. If they die naturally, or accidentally, without being trained properly, they will become a vampire. If this is the curse, and if they've been educated and trained, I'm assuming whoever did this to Hermione must have been, and they followed through with the ritual, and they will have powers of both wizards and vampires. They thirst for blood, but they can walk out in the daylight without harming themselves." Harry gives the blond man a peculiar look concerning this new information and Draco just shrugs, rolling his eyes. "Father wanted me to be well-educated on the 'inferiors', as he called them."

"So a Canbeen thing is what cursed Hermione?"

"Cambion. Seems to be, because he knew of this curse. This book is extremely rare, there's only one other one in the wizarding library in Germany, and almost no one has access to it."

"That's all it said?" Harry asked, opening the book back to their place. The passage continued on to the next page.

Draco continued reading, "The first part of a two part curse, originating in Romania, used in the Bulgarian-Hungarian War of 1003, leaving the Hungarian Princess in a state of sleep for 67 years, when her brother learned to find how to reverse the unfinished curse. Upon waking, she spoke of hearing everything that had been going on around her; feeling pain more excruciating that she wished for death every second spent in hell. She spoke of being unable to escape the pain, not even to slumber."

His throat tight and burning, Draco stopped reading and closed his eyes, feeling hot tears fall down his cheeks. 17 days she had been like this. 17 days of excruciating pain.

Harry shaking his head,"No. No. Hermione I am so sorry." his body seemed to shatter to the floor as he sobbed. "This is my fault." He croaked. "This is all my fault." He was becoming undone, so Draco walked out and asked one of the healers in the hall for a calming draught - something they kept a high supply of behind their desks. Draco came back into Hermione's room and gripped Harry's shoulder to get his attention and handed him the potion. Without another word between them, Harry grabbed the book and ran out of the room.

Several minutes later Draco was sitting on the floor leaning his back against the wall, ankles crossed with his head resting on the wall behind him, tear tracks making their way down his face; he wasn't even trying to hide them. He couldn't believe this was happening to the person who deserved every good and beautiful thing in the world; the person that forgave him and befriended him when he had no one; the person who was there in the darkest moment in his life; when he found out his mother, the mother he knew was broken into something unrecognizable.

He thinks about the many drunken nights, and cringed at the memories that rose to his mind.

* * *

It was the morning after he and his mother was tortured, her mind being broken into insanity. He almost wanted to join his mother, letting his mind collapse in on itself and end his agony. He already lost the one thing that mattered to him. His mother's screams echo around in his head. He couldn't handle it, his grips the almost white blonde hair on the side of my head and he screams. He didn't think he had anymore tears to release, but he thought wrong. He grabs the chair in the corner of the room and hurls it into the bed, breaking the chair, and one of the four posts that reached towards the mold spotted ceiling. The rush of adrenaline that shot through his was a relief. He took his fist and slams it into the wall. Pain shot through him. Pain was a relief. He screams. He needed to stop the anguish in his mind, so Draco punches the wall over and over, and feeling painful relief every time he sees a new hole appear in the wall. Soon blood was also joining the holes, dripping down to the dusty floor. Once he had destroyed one wall, he moved to a mirror that was against the wall. Seeing himself, he threw his fist through the glass.

Hermione was sitting on the front porch of the Burrow sipping a cup of tea; black, with two sugars. She stood up, stretching the aches in her leg, and rubbed her palms into her eyes; thinking about the last week. Last night was when everything happened with the Malfoy's. She had been at the Hog's Head, sitting in the chair in the corner of Draco's room, until late in the evening. He eventually fell asleep in the rickety bed, after finally drinking the dreamless sleeping potion Hermione had been trying to get him to drink for the past few hours.

She still hadn't gone to sleep. When she had returned, Ron pitched a fit. Hermione looked him in the eye, and didn't say a word. She listened to his ramblings and just sat there, letting him release all of his anger and his frustrations out on her, until Harry stepped beside him, gripping his upper arm and started tugging Ron up the stairs, whispering furious words to him. Harry sent her a look that made her feel loved, and couldn't help but think that she would lay down her life to let Harry live. Once they were gone, she started a pot of tea even though it was the middle of the night; there was no way she was going to sleep, even though she was exhausted down to the marrow in her bones.

She knew Harry was feeling horrible and closing in on himself. They had stayed up one night last week and leaned against each other on the patched-up Weasley couch, a half a bottle of wine shared between them. Talking in low voices, they shared their hopes and dreams, as well as their fears and concerns. She felt a tug at her heart, Harry would always be the family she didn't have.

Harry had talked about the war, and things that they saw in the paper, He always felt as though everything that Voldemort did, and everyone the abhorrant man hurt, was because of himself. Because he couldn't stop Tom yet. One thing that was plaguing his mind was Draco Malfoy. Harry felt like he owed Draco something, for almost killing him last year, and remembered seeing the shattered pieces of Draco when he was lowering his wand in front of Dumbledore before Snape had killed him. Draco was just a pawn in all of this, he had no choice in his part - just like Harry didn't.

Hermione couldn't help but think about that night last week. They had both agreed that Draco deserved a better life. Neither of them could imagine growing up and living with Lucius Malfoy. That had to be hell on earth. She shuddered the chill that made its way up her spine and sat down on the rocking chair, resting her head backwards, watching the sky turn from deep blue, to fire red as the sun slowly rose - calling for a new day.

She was dozing off when a silvery light in the shape of a goat bounded in front of her, her blood ran cold as she heard Aberforth's rushed whispers.

"Hermione. Come now, alone. Bring healing salves and pain potions."

She sent a quick prayer skywards and apparated.

"Draco!" Hermione and Aberforth rushed into the room, finding him unconscious on the floor. Hermione's eyes took in the wall full of holes, the broken shards of the mirror, and the blood smeared everywhere. She felt the familiar ache of tears making their way up the back of her throat, knowing he had lost it and did all of this himself. Walking over to the mirrors empty frame, she told Aberforth to lift him on to the bed. She muttered a few spells and the splintered mirror was seamed back together, the wall repaired itself, and the blood vanished.

She then got to work on the mangled hand that was basically shredded skin on top of bones. She didn't know if she could even fix the amount of damage he had done to himself.

Hermione took the beaded bag off of her belt loop and reached her arm deep into it. She had, illegally, extended to hold a households worth of items. She swiftly took out blood replenishing and pain potions, salves and bandages. She gently shook his shoulder to wake him up. He slowly opened his eyes, and turned his head when he saw the look on Hermione's face. He did not like to be babied, or pitied. "Don't say anything." he grunted out, the pain gripping him in a sudden wave. He swallowed the bile rising in his throat.

An hour and a half later, plenty of tears and potions later, she had cleaned the deep grooves in his arm, and set the strips of flesh where they should be, muttering spells and using dittany; relieved when she watched skin stitch back together and then wrapped his hand when it finally seemed to be healed. She slowly started to put her potion bottles away, and vanished the blood from the bed, and their clothes. She leaned back into the chair and sighed. She was tired. A sniffle caught her attention. Draco was looking at her with red-rimmed and bloodshot eyes.

"Thank you," was all that he could get out without breaking down.

Hermione pretended not to notice his tears, "No problem."

* * *

Draco looked at the fine web of scars on the hand that held Hermione's tiny pale one. He didn't even realize he had moved, but he was now on his knees beside her bed. He brought her hand to his lips. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I'm so sorry." he felt his eyes prickle with heat and shut them tightly, tears were not going to help. "We will get you out of this. I promise. I swear on my life."

* * *

A/N: OMGOSH guys, I am SO sorry for not updating sooner. I want to thank everyone who has messaged me every few days, you DEFINITELY helped me the past few months. I guess I'll let whoever is reading this story know that I struggle with depression, and sometimes it's hard to do things past the usual daily motions - even the things I love to do most. AHHH I love this chapter though. Sooooo. The vampire/cambion stuff - a lot of it is just stuff I made up so keep that in mind if it's no where near what is usual. I twisted things to fit into my story line. If you have any suggestions or questions, PM me! I'm always up for


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